Altruism
by Daughter of Chaos
Summary: 'The practice of unselfish regard for the welfare of others.' With Chi Chi unavailable, Grandpa Ox-King and Piccolo are responsible for being care givers for a sick young Gohan. Sic!fic, Oneshot


Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Dragon Ball Universe. I can barely finish a fanfic, I certainly cannot mastermind a series.

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Author's Ramble: I started writing this story in 2007. No joke. It's been hanging out in my save files for 12 years. This story was spawned by a prompt on an old ffdotnet forum called "The Wonders of Son Gohan." I'm not sure where I meant to go with it originally, but a tagged a neat little ending on to it and I'm giving it a push out into the wilds of the Internet. Story saw a spit polish on the way by, but there are still spelling and grammatical errors and I claim them all for my very own.

Now, I satisfied my itch for a sick!fic. Apologies for a random one shot out of the blue, especially from an author that hasn't written DBZ fic since 2003, but this thing was just gathering dust. It should be shared!

Hoping this story finds you well,

DoC

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The prompt is as follows:

THEME 1:

Setting - The setting will be after everyone learned that Goku was still alive after the Freiza saga, but before the Garlic Jr. saga. So, basically, it's a few months after the Freiza saga.

Genre - General/Drama, but you can throw something else in if you want.

Rating - Nothing above T.

Basic Plot - Running short on money, Chichi is forced to find a job in East City in order to support herself and Gohan. Since Chichi had to live in East City temporarily and decided against bringing Gohan, she was forced to leave Gohan in the care of her least favorite green man: Pikoro. During the time when Gohan is with his Namekujin friend, he becomes ill. You fill in all the blanks after that.

-You decide why she left him, what job she got, etc. I'm just giving you the BASIC plot.-

/ topic/2431/366565/1/

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**Altruism**

_-the practice of unselfish regard for the welfare of others._

The sky was a brilliant azure and spotted with white and fluffy clouds. The twittering of late spring birds fluttered along, blending with the musical whisper of a light breeze. It was a perfect day on Earth, and Gohan was more than happy to be out and in it.

You really had to be when your mum was intent on smothering you with book work and love to make up for more than a year without.

It really wasn't her fault, Gohan pondered as he trotted through the trees. Mum was doing her best after all and before he'd been taken for training so long ago, he would have been desperately clinging to his mother in return. But Gohan had done a lot of growing up since then, and now that he was six the half Saiya-jin was old enough to need some space once in a while. Even if that was just to be sent out fishing.

Oh well.

The boy grinned and turned his head toward the companion that trotted behind him. "Lets go faster, yeah? Maybe I can catch you a fish too!"

The large, auburn, saber tooth tiger howled in agreement, his head tossed to the wind, and bolted ahead of the boy toward the lake. Gohan laughed and ran to catch up to the big cat, and pass him. Midnight, straight cut, ear length locks blew wildly as the two friends tore headlong through the old forest. Forest gave way to a sheer cliff edge with a narrow trail winding down to a pearl of a lake below. With Gohan in the lead, the two took to the trail with a reckless abandon, galloping down the fifty foot drop without care.

The two unlikely companions slid to a halt on the white sandy beach at the bottom of the trail. Gohan surveyed the lake from shore for a moment before trotting over to a log that lay half on the beach and half in the water. Edging along the tree trunk Gohan stood at the very tip over the water one foot behind the other, one hand flung out to his side and the other hand shielding onyx eyes as he peered into the water's depths. The tiger watched Gohan eagerly from the sand, intent on his promised fish.

The demi human frowned as he cast about the lake. There were always big fish in here, he knew. Dad would take him here sometimes when he was small and let the boy play on the beach while he fished. The tiny frown on the child's lips briefly touched his eyes. He missed his Daddy. Gohan shook off the mood as soon as it came. "Daddy's alive somewhere," he reminded himself, "he's just training is all. He'll be back soon, I know it!"

His tiger friend on shore cocked his ears back and howled at Gohan. The boy turned and grinned at the disgruntled cat. "Right, fish!"

Returning to his initial duty, the boy let out an undignified whoop as he spotted a massive razor back glint not twenty yards from him. Gohan back flipped off the log back onto the sandy shore and was stripped down to his boxers even as he dove into the lake, overalls and yellow shirt fluttering to the beach behind him. The big cat sat patiently, eyes trained on the water. His reward came moments later as a five foot black striped fish popped from the surface and flew directly at the cat. Gohan came up shortly behind the fish, bowl cut hair dripping. The boy grinned and flashed the victory sign at his furry friend. "That one's yours, Saber Tooth-san.!"

The cat mewled as much as a creature his size could and pressed one large paw on the madly wriggling fish as it attempted to escape back beneath the water. Settling down on his haunches the tiger proceeded to dig into his prize with vigor. With a deep breath Gohan disappeared beneath the surface a second time, reappearing this time on his own. Gohan swam backwards toward the shore, hands tightly wrapped around the base of the tale of a huge fish, as round as it was long with a great spiky fin on its back. Dragging the sea giant onto the sandy beach, Gohan powered up briefly to vaporize the water on him before pulling his clothes and his shoes back on. Taking up a one handed grip on the fish's tail this time, the child turned a wave to his friend. "Bye-bye, Saber Tooth-san! Come play with me again sometime, okay?"

The cat lifted his bloodied muzzle from the fish carcass long enough to sound a brief farewell before returning to the important task of eating. Gohan was keen to leave him to it, his own stomach reminding the boy that he still needed to take supper home and clean it before Mum could cook it up. The half Saiya-jin dashed back up the cliff dragging his catch behind him and tore back through the woods to the little wood and capsule place the Son's called home. Gohan took the fish directly to the shed out back, tossing open the door and digging out the scaling knife from with-in. Okaa-san preferred to have the fish cleaned and gutted back here instead of next to the house, after all.

The child quickly sliced into the fish's neck and circled the area, effectively beheading the creature. As he picked up and tossed the head out above and into the forest behind the Son home, Gohan turned back and noted for the first that he could hear voices from the open kitchen window. The boy cocked his head to the side before smiling widely, his Ojii-san was here! Yup, that was definitely his grandfather's red air car in the front yard too, now that he was looking for it. This encouraged him to set about cleaning the fish all the faster; it was always good to see his kind spirited Ojii-san.

Gohan worked quietly, though his speed slowed as he listened into the conversation drifting over to him.

"Papa, thank you for bringing me your spare capsule car today."

"You know it's no problem to ask favors of your old father, Chi Chi, especially when I get home cooked fish out of this!"

"I know Papa. I actually have another favor to ask you as well."

Gohan stilled his knife along the back of his catch. His mother sounded anxious about whatever she intended to ask. His grandfather chuckled, a thunderous window rattling sound. "You know I would do anything I can for you. Tell me what you need, princess."

"Well," and here his Mum stalled, very unusual indeed. "Papa, could I ask you to stay here this summer and watch after Gohan-chan for me?"

"Whatever for, Chi Chi? Where will you be?"

Suddenly Gohan didn't feel so hungry anymore. The boy's mouth dried out and he tried to swallow as moments of silence between the adults stretched on to hours for him. Otou-san was gone all ready, his mother wouldn't leave him too, would she?

"I've taken a job in East City."

"Chi Chi!" Exclaimed the king of Fry Pan Mountain.

The mother's soft voice was suddenly hard. "Now Papa, let me finish! I've been hired as a home economics teacher for a summer course run at East City University. They offer room and board, but only for me. I wouldn't take Gohan with me anyway, of course. City life would absolutely disrupt his studies!"

"Oh, but, Chi Chi, why do you need a job, honey? I think Gohan needs you home right now, after all that's gone on and all..."

All though the demi human would not say it for himself at this point, he agreed with his Grandpa. He really did need his mother. She was a rock in this crazy world he'd discovered in the last two years. Mum didn't change. She wasn't supposed to. Gohan bit his cheek, why _would_ she leave him this way? Why should she need to?

His mother's response was quiet. "We're running low on money, Papa. I can only stretch the budokai winnings so far, after all. I needed to get a job to help support Gohan and myself. As his mother, its now my job to make sure I can feed and clothe my son."

"Chi Chi, if you needed money you know all you need to do is ask. I can certainly spare enough to take care of my daughter and my grandson. Now you can just quit this job of yours and stay here."

There was a solid thud from with in the kitchen, Gohan knew his mother had just put her foot down, literally. "No, Papa! This is my family, and my responsibility! I will not just take hand outs; I can't! I can support my son on my own, Papa! I just... I just need you to look out for Gohan for two months, that's all. And then, well, I should have enough money to last us for the next four years or so, if we spend it wisely."

The boy in question bit his lip and quickly continued cleaning the fish even as he felt a tiny tear steal down his cheek. He was being selfish to want his Okaa-san all to himself. She needed to leave him, to help him. He understood now. It would be hard, but only for a couple of months. Gohan could do that, he had in the past. And his grandfather _was_ fun to stay with.

His Ojii-san sighed, a sound like wind rattling through the kitchen. "Okay honey. I'll look after Gohan. Let me take him back to the castle though."

"Not a chance, Papa! All of those villagers, and your butler around calling him 'Prince Gohan.' It may swell his head, or worse, interfere with his studies! No, Gohan-chan will stay here."

Gohan half sniffled and half laughed to himself. It really was strange to visit his grandfather's home when people there would bow to him. He was part of the royal family as the grandson of Gyuu Maou, but it was still too weird.

"You know how the spare bed hurts my back, Chi Chi. I would love to look after Gohan, but I won't be able to sleep on that for more than a week, at most! Maybe you could ask one of Goku's friends to..."

"Absolutely _not_! Those hooligans have been nothing but a bad influence on my little Gohan-chan since they've met him! I will not have my baby being perverted by their ways. I trust Krillin, but he would never keep my baby boy at his studies. No, no, no!"

This argument continued for several minutes with Ojii-san attempting to bring up names and his Mum continually pointing out why they could not watch him. Cleaning away the unwanted fish parts hurriedly, Gohan wrapped the meat in large leaves and washed his hands at the well. Leaving the meat on the door step, the boy quietly opened the door to the kitchen, neither his mother or his grandfather noticed his entrance.

"Chi Chi honey, how about I stay for the day and make sure Gohan studies, we can have one of the others stay nights with him."

And a thought struck the half Saiya-jin, a flicker of hope in this strange situation. Standing near the door yet, eyes down cast, the boy said softly, "Piccolo-san."

The adults both jumped, finally realizing the boy in question stood in the room with them. "Oh, Gohan baby. How did fishing go? Your grandfather and I were just discussing some things and I..."

"I heard what you were talking about, Okaa-san." Gohan interrupted his mother hurriedly, "Your going to go work in East City for a couple of months and you want Ojii-san to stay here with me. If Ojii-san will stay days, could Piccolo-san watch after me at night?"

For a moment, it looked as though his Mum had swallowed her tongue as her eyes bulged and she turned red while struggling to get something out. "Tha- That _monster_!? Gohan, you want me to leave you in the hands of that awful, killing machine who kidnapped you, as I may remind. You want me to trust him with your safety while your sleeping!? I can't have it!"

Gohan knew it was time to pull out his best reserves. If he couldn't have his Mum, or his Daddy, than he would have his Piccolo-san, one way or another. Unconsciously, the child's eyes grew wide and shiny, his lip quivered, and his hands locked together in front of him as he pleaded with his mother. "Okaa-san, Piccolo-san is really a good guy. He'll take care of me. I promise to study extra hard if you let him stay nights, please?" His mother's frown had yet to leave, Gohan thought of his last resort, "And if something were to attack while you were gone Mum, well, Piccolo-san is the strongest person here. He could protect me!"

Impressively, his mother flinched. She knew quite well the crazy things that had been going on, and the things that always seemed to want his Daddy, or him. Maybe she even remembered when Garlic Jr.'s men had kidnapped him when he was little. Finally, Chi Chi swallowed. Setting her jaw, the woman turned determinedly to the sink and the dishes she had long forgotten there. Sharply, she stated, "Fine. Papa will stay here during the day and your Piccolo may stay for the nights. Only this once though, and only for these two months!"

That was how Gohan found himself flying at a break neck pace out into the dessert. He was heading straight for Piccolo's favorite waterfall; which was where the dessert met the mountains in a vibrant display of oasis green. After finishing dinner the half Saiya-jin had bolted for the door before his mother could possibly change her mind. Gohan laughed and pulled a mid air cart wheel at the thought. He got to have Piccolo-san come and stay with him now! It would be great! Err, well, Piccolo would probably expect him to train, but that was okay, he would be there!

Well, Gohan hoped he would be there. He had to ask his Namek-jin sensei first. But that wouldn't be a problem. Piccolo had spent nearly six months looking after him while he slept, after all! And he would always keep the fire going, and sometimes even cover the demi human with a corner of his cape when he thought Gohan was asleep. Piccolo-san was good at this. And even though he scowled a lot, Gohan knew his tall green friend would help keep the nightmares away! It would be perfect. Piccolo would agree right away.

Wouldn't he?

That tiny seed of doubt blossomed in a heart beat. Gohan halted right where he was above the dessert sands, his ki all but extinguished except for an amount to keep him in the air. What if Piccolo wouldn't come? His sensei loved his peace and solitude, he'd said so plenty of times even when Gohan would fly out to visit him. He knew his friend would come and rescue him from bad guys any time, but that was in life or death situations. Would Piccolo want to come just to make sure Gohan had someone around while he slept at night?

The child frowned to himself. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea. He really shouldn't bother his sensei with such little things.

But, the boy bit his lip, he needed Piccolo-san right then. With Otou-san off training in space some where and his Okaa-san leaving... Piccolo would just have to understand that Gohan needed him right then! Piccolo-san had never let him down when he needed him. Never! Gohan took a deep breath and with a flare of ki was on his way again.

Waterfall in sight, the child rocketed out of the orange dusky sky to land gracefully on a boulder at the water's edge. A fine mist from the waterfall swept over him and up above in a cross legged lotus position, white cape mimicking the waterfall's actions, sat Piccolo. The Namek-jin hadn't acknowledged him so Gohan obliged himself to announcing his presence. "Hello, Piccolo-san!"

This earned him a cracked eye and a grunt. Gohan was un-phased; this was normal for his sensei. Continuing to look up and call over the thunder of the water, the boy asked, "Umm, Piccolo-san? Can I ask you something?"

"Hn."

Again, this was all very much a Piccolo response. Gohan however, was unsure of how to proceed with his request, even though his sensei had given him the go ahead on asking it. It should have been easy, but he wasn't quite positive on how to word it for his often grouchy friend. Stumped, the boy tucked a hand behind his head and rocked onto the balls of his feet.

Piccolo, after a moment, turned a more complete attention on the boy. Unfolding himself from meditation, the Namek-jin floated down to stand on the ground beside his student. Impatient, he demanded, "Are you going to ask your question?"

Biting the inside of his cheek, Gohan finally decided it was best to just blurt out the situation at hand. "Mum is going to go work in East City for a couple of months and she wants to leave me at home with Grandpa watching me but the spare bed hurts Grandpa's back so he can't stay nights with me and I was hoping that you could?"

Bright eyes looked up expectantly at the tall emerald alien. Piccolo sighed and raised a hand to rub at a small spot in the middle of his brow. Looking Gohan in the eye the Namek-jin said, "One more time, slower."

The boy shuffled his feet and took a deep breath. "Okaa-san says we need money, so she took a job in East City. She's going to be gone for two months. She wants me to stay at home and keep up on my studies, so she asked Ojii-san to come over and stay with me. Grandpa says he will happily stay with me during the day, but the spare bed really hurts his back so he doesn't want to spend the nights at our house. Mum still wants someone to look after me and she said it would be okay if you came by to do it. So, would you come by and stay at my house for a couple of months? I'm sure Grandpa wouldn't mind even if you wanted to stay during the daytime; we wouldn't have to tell mum that part. Will you come, Piccolo-san?"

Gohan watched as Piccolo seemed to consider him for a moment. "Just to watch you."

"Hai," the child agreed, "Okaa-san doesn't like me to be alone."

"You convinced the woman that it would be okay to have me do this."

At this Gohan looked down at his feet and blushed. "I may have guilted her into it, but yes."

"And when would this be taking place?"

"Mum says she'll be leaving in two weeks. Does that mean you'll do it Piccolo-san?"

Gohan stood on his tip toes in anticipation, attention focused entirely on his friend. After a moment, the Namek-jin reached out with one great emerald hand and tousled his hair. "Sure Kid, I'll be there."

~/~

Light pencil debris was forming a small cloud above and around the sharpened tip as it moved with furious speed across the paper. The small hand that guided the pencil was driven by a distinct goal in it's work: the faster the homework was completed, the sooner he could leave the house. While Gohan was for all intents a diligent student, he was after all still a little boy!

Not, of course, that going outside would mean getting the chance to play. He would go outside into the late afternoon to train with his mentor. While Gohan would be training, his grandpa would be cooking supper for them. Grandpa was not nearly as good of a cook as was his mum, but after spending a couple of hours training with Piccolo, he'd be too hungry to worry about it!

The little boy worked steadily at completing the research paper on local monarchies, a topic supplied by his grandfather. There was a glass of orange juice just with in his reach with a steady moist condensation slipping down its sides. His mum had left for East City five weeks before. Grandfather was doing a really good job of keeping Gohan at his studies during the day. But grandpa was still grandpa, which meant the studying was not nearly as hard as what his Okaa-san would have expected of him.

Piccolo-san, in the mean time, spent the mornings in meditation by one of the big trees in their yard and he would spend the afternoon training with Gohan. The half Saiya-jin was loving it. He certainly missed his Okaa-san, but he was right in asking for Piccolo-san. He managed to feel safe, even in his sleep.

With a final few words, Gohan finished his paper and sorted all of the pages into the correct order with a flourish. Dropping this packet on his desk, the boy bounded through his room and out into the greater house. "Ojii-san! My paper is done, I left it on my desk. I'm going out to train with Piccolo-san!"

All he heard in response to this was a chuckle from his grandpa, working steadily in the kitchen, and then the child was out the door and running for his sensei. Gohan skidded to a halt just before his teacher, who was in his customary meditative position floating perhaps three foot above the ground. The breeze rustled and the mottled shadows of tree leaves danced across Piccolo's scowling face.

"Piccolo-san, I'm ready to train now!"

Dark eyes opened to greet him as the tall Namek-jin unfolded himself to stand before the child. "It took you long enough."

A small look of consternation creased the little boy's dark brows together. "I had to write twenty pages for my paper today, I did it as fast as a I could."

"Hn."

The look on the child's face brightened. "Can we train now?"

By way of agreement, Piccolo inclined his head toward his young pupil and took off from the yard for a small clearing not far from the house. Gohan followed right behind him. This was their usual routine of the past month, after all.

The duo landed in the center of the clearing and Piccolo took up a defensive stance to begin. Understanding the unspoken command, Gohan went directly into an offensive position, and with hardly a breath between thought and action, flew toward his sensei intent on pummeling him with a barrage of kicks and punches. As was usual, Piccolo tolerated the defensive position for only so long before coming out and attacking his pupil in return. This was not a training fight of ki power or raw strength, this was training in skill.

They spent an hour at this before Gohan broke away. The little boy bounced away from his sensei, gripping the shredded sleeve of his purple gi and the bruised forearm beneath it. He knew Piccolo wouldn't like it, Gohan ending the fight early. However the little boy had felt a growing sense of feeling cold and a little nauseous and mostly he hurt of the last half hour. That was weird.

"Ne, Piccolo-san, I think I've had enough for today. Let's go back and see if supper is done?"

It didn't matter that Piccolo would not eat with them, it seemed a convenient excuse. Piccolo's eyes narrowed as he stared at his student. "You're not taking up being a whining brat again, are you? You need to skip out on your training because you're a little bit hungry, do you?"

Gohan ducked his head looking up through his eyelashes at his teacher and a tiny frown on his lips. The child let go of his bruise and proceeded to wrap his arms about his body instead, a shiver working through his core. "No, I don't want to be whiny. I can train hungry, its just that..."

"Brat, if you can train hungry, than don't break off in the middle of a match to complain that you want food. Enough of that, resume your stance."

"Its not that! I don't... I don't..."

Emerald lips rose into a sneer. "I have no tolerance for cry babies, Gohan, I thought you would have learned that much from me at least. If you have nothing further to say for yourself, then resume your stance."

Gohan bit his lip and hugged his body a little tighter. Another shiver slithered through him. It wasn't right that he should feel so suddenly chilly when he was still sweating from his work-out. Maybe he was just being a cry baby again though. The child blew out a soft breath and slipped back into his fighting stance. He didn't feel good, but disappointing Piccolo-san would feel a lot worse.

The two continued on in their match, though Gohan was aware that his movements were becoming slower as they kept going. Sweat dripped from the child now, though he still felt so cold. Gohan let his defenses down for a moment as yet another chill wound up his spine. In that moment, Piccolo delivered a precise blow to the boy's abdomen. Unprepared, the half Saiya-jin went tumbling backwards until he crashed hard into a large tree.

Instead of getting up, Gohan's arms unconsciously slipped about his middle again. He felt large tears growing at the corner's of his eyes. He was cold, and he hurt, and he was so tired. The child blinked and tried to wipe the tears away as brown clad feet entered his vision. "Get up."

Gohan whimpered softly at this. However, if Piccolo wanted it, he needed to do it. The little boy pushed himself onto his hands and knees with considerable effort. From there he stood slowly but did not raise his eyes to meet his mentor's. His traitorous arms rose to wrap around his own torso again, this time hugging his tummy tightly. He really didn't feel good. "Resume your stance."

The child willed himself to comply, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. His belly was roiling now, and he could feel a flush brightening his cheeks even as the blood drained from the rest of his face. "Piccolo-san... I don't feel so goo-"

Before he could finish the word, Gohan's eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth. Turning quickly away from his sensei, the little boy dropped to his knees beside the tree, leaned forward, and proceeded to throw up. Gohan was aware of the warm weight of the large hand that suddenly appeared on his back while his body continued to heave. After several minutes, Gohan's stomach finally settled and the half Saiya-jin was left shivering and gasping tiredly for air.

Warm arms slipped beneath him then, and Gohan felt himself being lifted and held gently against Piccolo-san's body. Another chill wracked him, and the child shivered and pressed his face into the purple gi of his mentor's chest even as the Namek-jin lifted into the air and flew back toward home.

"Piccolo-san, I'm sorry I couldn't finish training like you asked."

"Ah. You'll make it up to me when you're healthy again."

~/~

If he hadn't felt quite so terrible, Gohan might have found the ensuing conversation between his mentor and his grandfather to be funny. Letting himself into the Son home without preamble, Piccolo had stood with Gohan cradled in his arms as he spoke with Gyuu Maou. "The boy is feverish and he threw up. Fix him."

"Oh dear," was his grandfather's response, as he took two long strides to Piccolo's side. He made no effort to take the child from his mentor's arms, but he did press the back of one massive hand to his grandson's forehead. "Oh you are pretty warm, aren't you Gohan!"

The little boy clung to his sensei's gi with one hand and rubbed morosely at his eyes with the other. "I don't feel very good, Ojii-san."

"Haven't we all ready established this?" Rumbled the boy's irritable teacher, "Fix him already!"

The little half Saiya-jin didn't understand why his grandpa would laugh and pat Piccolo-san on the arm just then. By the scowl on his face, Piccolo-san didn't understand either. Ojii-san waved Piccolo to follow him down the hall to Gohan's bedroom as he shook his massive head. "He's a sick little boy, Piccolo. We can't just 'fix' him."

Ox horns glinting in the overhead light, the massive man directed Piccolo to set Gohan on his bed. Gohan watched all of this through half closed eyes. Piccolo-san was clearly unhappy. "Don't you have medicines for this kind of thing? Give the boy one of those and fix him."

"You don't just fix someone who is sick. You care for them. In this case, it depends on what he's got. I can rummage for something to sooth his little tummy, but that wont take care of everything. For the most part, we keep him comfortable and well hydrated and wait it out, don't we, Gohan?"

While he didn't get sick all that often, this was not the little half Saiya-jin's first time. He nodded at his grandfather even as Piccolo-san's arms crossed and he scowled deeper. "He wasn't even ill earlier, and now that he is you tell me we have to wait for it to go away on its own. Is this a human thing? Bah. I'm not staying and waiting anything out. Come and find me when you're well again, Gohan."

Gohan's eyes opened wide as something like fear and betrayal swept through him. His little heart beat faster and his tummy twisted as he sat up and grabbed his sensei's billowing cape before the Namek-jin could walk all the way out of the room. "You promised you would stay with me, Piccolo-san!"

The little boy could feel the tears building in his eyes and he knew that would make his mentor angry. Right then he didn't care, Piccolo-san wouldn't really just walk away from him like this, would he? The Namek-jin turned abruptly on his heal, jerking the cape from his pupil's grip. The snarl was on his face and in his voice before he'd completed the movement, "I made no such promise to..."

Gohan's lower lip trembled, the tears in his eyes overflowed his lashes, and he looked up at his teacher while the man raged at him. Only, instead of finishing his angry tirade, Piccolo made eye contact with him and stopped dead in his sentence. The anger fled from his expression, leaving something unreadable in its place.

Piccolo closed his eyes and pulled himself to his full height as he turned to face the little boy's grandpa. "What do I need to do for him."

The half Saiya-jin slumped against his pillow in relief even as his ojii-san began to chuckle heartily. "He's got you well and truly wrapped around his little finger, doesn't he? Ah, don't take that the wrong way, my grandson here just has that kind of way about him. Its a nice thing to see though! Are you still planning on taking the night watch then?"

Eyes half open, Gohan watched his grandfather's amused face and tried to figure out what had made Piccolo-san so embarrassed that he would blush. "Obviously, or I wouldn't ask."

"Well, I'll get him some herbs for his belly. You just need to keep an eye on him, make sure he gets plenty of water. We want to make sure the fever doesn't get too far, so we'll fill up a basin of cool water and get you cloth. What you'll want to do is..."

~/~

It was not a good night. He was sleeping in a simple sleeveless shirt and boxers. Sometimes he was too hot, sometimes he was too cold. His tummy hurt, and so did the little spot right behind his eyes. To make things worse, he'd just thrown up on Piccolo. Eyes wide, cheeks flushed, Gohan looked hesitantly up at his sensei.

The Namek-jin's eyes were closed, his teeth making ominous grinding noises. The little boy shuddered as a chill passed through his body and he hugged himself tightly. He wanted his Mum, or his Daddy, but all he had was his Piccolo and he'd had to beg to get his teacher to come. And then what does he do? He gets sick in his teacher's lap. The child whimpered, "I'm sorry."

The lack of response cemented it for Gohan; he'd made his sensei mad. Probably had disappointed him as well. Piccolo had trained him to be strong and here he was, crying again. The boy curled himself into a ball on top of his sweat soaked sheets, eyes squeezed shut, trying not to cry like he wanted to. "Ojii-san will be here in a couple of hours," the child hiccuped into his pillow, "You can go if you want to. I- I'll be okay."

The child listened to a rustle of fabric that indicated his teacher had straightened to his full and impressive height. A flash of light he could see even through his closed eyelids suggested that Piccolo had magicked away his soiled garments in favor of new ones. Gohan waited with a small sob for his sensei's footsteps to turn and leave the room. What the little boy did not expect was the dip of his mattress as his teacher settled beside him and the gentle touch of a large hand to his cheek. Eyes opened, tears spilled against his express commands. Piccolo's free hand held a glass of water. "Drink this."

Blinking rapidly, Gohan pushed his weary body up far enough to comply. He reached for the glass, but Piccolo never released it. The Namek-jin pressed the glass to his student's lips and waited while Gohan drank as much as he could. The boy enjoyed the cold liquid on his sore throat and the way it helped wash away the flavor lurking around his tongue. Still, he was weary of his upset tummy and even more worried that he might be sick on his mentor again if he drank too much. He pulled back before the glass was half gone and laid back down with a sigh.

"Thank you. Are you mad?"

The demi human's eyes were trying to close on him again even as he asked. He still caught the sound of an impatient huff from his Piccolo as the man set the water down and picked up the cool wash cloth. He dabbed at Gohan's sweaty brow before answering. "I'm not mad, kid. Just focus on getting better. Go to sleep."

"I really am sorry for throwing up on you."

His sensei grunted. "Don't apologize for rebellious digestive organs. You had no control of that. Now sleep!"

Gohan felt a small smile creep across his lips as sleep pulled him under. His sensei wouldn't be leaving him tonight.

~/~

The morning sun was all together too bright as another violent shiver woke Gohan from his dreams. They were more like nightmares. He had been back on planet Namek, the world had been coming to pieces all around him. The lava spurts from the cracked land were hot and terrifying, but Gohan just knew he had to reach Freiza before he left the planet, he had to! The sight of his own room and the feel of his own blankets made the child realize where he was. Freiza was dead. His daddy was gone. Gohan though, was still much too hot.

Panting, the boy tossed his bedding off and looked around again. Why wasn't his mum here? Oh, of course, she was still gone to East City. Where were his sensei or his grandpa then? Had Piccolo really had too much and left? The fever and the headache combined to scatter his senses too far to read for anyone's ki just then. The boy was tired, hot, and felt terrible. He sniffled into his pillow for a long moment, imaging that he would never see his sensei after this. Why would Piccolo ever want to spend time with a sick little weakling like him again?

The frightened thoughts fled as the child's bedroom door opened. His Ojii-san walked in with a steaming cup in his hand and pushed the door open wide as Piccolo walked in behind him carrying a fresh basin of water. Grandpa smiled wide at him. "There's my little prince! I heard you had a rough night. I made you some tea right away. It won't taste good, but it will make your belly feel better, little one."

Gohan gave his grandpa a watery smile as the big man held the cup for him to drink. "Thank you. Yeuuch, this IS terrible, Grandpa! This tastes worse than what daddy used to make when I didn't feel good!"

Ojii-san laughed. He winked at the boy as he said, "Knowing that Goku, he just added more honey. Hold tight, little prince, I'll make it sweeter and then you can drink the cup right down, can't you?"

Gohan giggled softly. "I can!"

Piccolo had put the basin down and had stepped to the side of the room during this exchange. He took up a lotus position there as grandpa left. Gohan shivered and reached back down for his blankets. He wished his body could make up its mind about being hot or cold all ready. "I'm glad you're still here, Piccolo-san."

Piccolo didn't even bother to open an eye to address him. "You asked me to stay. Now don't interrupt my meditation. It is day time and you are officially your grandfather's problem until sundown."

The demi human smiled and relaxed into his pillow. The answer would have sounded gruff to most, but Gohan understood his sensei better than others did. The fact that he was going to meditate in Gohan's room today said a lot. Piccolo would watch over him no matter what.

~/~

He was terrified. The hulking form of Nappa stood before him and the energy blast in his hands just kept getting bigger and bigger. Gohan wanted to run, he wanted to move, he wanted to fight back. He couldn't do any of those things. The blast grew to the size of a small planet, the heat it generated making all of Gohan's small body shake and sweat.

Suddenly there was something standing between him and that blinding energy. Gohan drew in a sharp breath. He knew who that was. That was Piccolo. And this was exactly how Piccolo died. Gohan urged his frozen body to move, cursed the sweat in his eyes and the way his tummy roiled. He couldn't move, but he knew exactly what would happen next. The scream of horror that broke from his throat couldn't possibly stop it happening, but…

"Piccolo-SANNNN!"

"Gohan! Wake up kid, I'm right here. Wake up!"

Someone was shaking his shoulders and that someone sounded a lot like his sensei. Gohan didn't understand how that could be when his sensei was dying right in front of him. The child sobbed and bellowed wordlessly at the energy ball he could still see flying at them. His arms finally obeyed him, coming up in self defense. Someone grabbed his arms, held his hands.

"You're having a nightmare, kid. Come on, wake up! I'm right here. We're both safe. Wake up!"

With a wretched gasp, Gohan's eyes flew open and instead of seeing his Piccolo's back, he saw the Namek-jin's wide eyes. The light was not the bright light of an impending energy blast, but the soft glow of the hall light outside his door. A shudder worked through the boy's body and fat tears formed at the corner's of his eyes. "Piccolo-san! I saw Nappa and I saw, I saw you die! And I couldn't move even thought I knew it was happening and you died, again! And.. and..."

The Namek-jin sighed. Gohan was aware that his teacher had not let go of him, and in that moment his thumbs rubbed the back of the boy's hands in an astonishingly soothing gesture. "It was just a nightmare, kid. Nappa is dead. I'm fine and so are you. Take a deep breath and center yourself."

The child did his best to do as commanded, but he could hardly bring himself down from the tiny little gasps of breath his lungs were allowing him. His stomach twisted and the boy squeezed his eyes shut. He whimpered, "I'm gonna be sick…!"

Piccolo moved faster than Gohan this time, and he found himself retching into a bowl placed in easy access. Panting, Gohan pushed the bowl away from himself. "I didn't think there was any more that could come up," he moaned.

In response, Piccolo took a cool damp cloth and rubbed it across the boy's fore head. Dropping that back in the tub beside them, he picked up a water glass and pressed it to Gohan's lips. "Replace what your loosing, kid."

Gohan obediently drank. He was still fuzzy from his dreams turned nightmares and everything was still so hot. One large green hand carded its way gently through his hair.

"Go back to sleep."

~/~

They were on Namek. The demi Saiya-jin was overjoyed. His daddy had just defeated Freiza. Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo were all in a good mood, happy that the terrible monster that was Freiza was gone. There were smiles, there were jokes. They still had a job to do, they still had people to resurrect, but they were so much closer now than they had been before! Gohan had his daddy and his Mr. Piccolo and they would make sure everything turned out okay, they had to!

Abruptly Krillin was sent zooming high into the sky before exploding. Piccolo was suddenly jumping in front of Daddy and getting hurt by a ki laser through the chest to save him. Gohan felt a burbled scream come up from his lungs as powerful arms wrapped around him.

Freiza had him!

The child thrashed and fought with everything he had, his daddy watched with wide eyes. He was being lifted high into the air before suddenly being plunged deep into the ocean below. Gohan cried out with the shock of the cold and knowing he was about to die. The water washed up over him and he opened his eyes wide to see the end coming.

Between gasping breaths the boy heard a low rumble that distinguished itself as a voice after a moment. "Gohan, stop fighting me little one! Your getting to be too strong for your old grandpa to wrestle with! Which is saying something when you haven't even eaten properly in three days. You're okay, little prince, I'm just giving you a cool bath real quick. You're much too hot for my liking, my boy."

The ocean in his mind's eye resolved itself into the tiny Son bathroom. Gohan found himself being supported in their pristine white porcelain bathtub by his Ojii-san. Grandpa took up more of the room than any of the fixtures, but he was the best thing Gohan could have hoped to see in that moment. The little boy's lip trembled in a way that had nothing to do with the cool water or the shivers wracking his body. There was a moment of silence in which the elder realized he had his grandson's focus, and then Gohan sobbed, "Grandpa!"

The big man's beard pulled up into a tight smile as he rubbed the little boy's back gently. "I'm right here, little one. You're okay and you're safe. Just gonna cool you down, clean you up, have have you napping back in your own bed before you know it."

Gohan was still dazed, still struggling to sort out his dreams and his reality. "I'm sick." Was announced more for his own benefit than for Ojji-san's. Which made him realize again where he was and what was really going on. "Piccolo-san?"

His grandpa smiled again, bigger this time' and he chuckled a little even as he reached for the soap. "I've got your teacher on bed sheet duty. He's getting everything cleaned up in your room and I'm getting you cleaned up. You had a rough night last night."

"Di- Did I throw up again? I'm sorry."

Ox horns flashed in the bathroom's overhead light as the Ox-king shook his head. "Don't you worry about any messes in this state, little one, when you're sick your body doesn't give you a choice. We'll get you cleaned up and then I'll make some more of that special tea to sooth the tummy. You'll be feeling better in no time."

Gohan had his arms wrapped tight about his belly again. His body felt hot and cold all at once and his belly still hurt. Worse, when he looked down at himself, he found out that he hadn't just soiled himself with vomit this time. The boy released a tiny little hiccup of a sob, bit his lip, and blushed in shame. "I didn't... Oh no... I made a really bad mess..."

Grandpa huffed. His big hand, all full of soap suds, worked under Gohan's arms to rub his belly. "Ah, now, little prince. You have nothing to be ashamed of. When you get a bug that goes after your tummy, it goes after your guts too. Those sick bugs are mean that way!"

As his grandpa finished helping him rinse and toweled him dry, Gohan could not shake the mortification of what had happened. He buried his head in his grandpa's broad chest as he was carried back to his room. His sheets were clean, and dry, and perfectly tucked in at all the corners. Gohan did not dare make eye contact with his sensei as he curled back under the covers and promptly fell asleep.

~/~

When next the demi human woke, he was drenched in sweat. The hall light illuminated his sensie's face as Piccolo ran a wet wash cloth along his brow and down his chest.

"Piccolo?"

"Hn."

"I feel weird."

The Namek-jin began picking up the bowl they had been using to catch vomit. Gohan reached out and gently caught his teacher's wrist. "I don't feel funny that way. I think I feel better? I don't know. I'm really tired."

Piccolo-san ran his fingers across Gohan's forehead. They lingered for a moment and pushed a stray hair behind his ear. "This looks like what your grandfather described the fever breaking would be like. You do feel much cooler. This is good. You'll be able to make up for all your missed training in a few days time."

Gohan smiled, his teacher was being brave for him. The boy tucked his arm back close to his body, yawned, and softly agreed, "I'll work my hardest, Mr. Piccolo."

"You don't have a choice."

He then slipped into a peaceful slumber for the first time in days.

~/~

It would take about three days of carefully prepared meals and multiple naps before Gohan felt enough like himself to venture outside again. Maybe, he thought to himself, he would try to spar with his sensei tomorrow. It would only be another week and a half before his Mum would be coming home and he would have to sneak out to train again.

That was okay, he missed his Mum.

Gohan had just finished a very easy assignment from his Ojii-san and was now trotting out to the backyard. His Sensei sat in half lotus at the base of the same large tree he had claimed when he first came. He was not floating this time, he sat on the ground. The little boy smiled to himself and, without invite, plopped himself at his teacher's left side and leaned back into the tall Namek-jin.

Piccolo growled softly, but did not move him.

After several moments of silence, Gohan stirred and looked, with large wide eyes, up at his mentor. "I should be ready to train again tomorrow, Piccolo-san."

The boy wanted, after everything he had put his mentor through in the last few months, to do everything in his power to not disappoint him. Piccolo grunted. "Next week."

Gohan blinked. His mentor never allowed extra breaks, never allowed lee-way. When you could stand back up, that's when you did it! "What?"

The Namek-jin opened one eye to peer forbiddingly down on his student. "This week, you will eat, re-hydrate, and rest. Tomorrow, we will work on meditation again. Next week we will train. That, is final."

Gohan looked for a long and confused moment at his sensei before deciding to let it go. He settled himself comfortably into that billowing, white, cape before closing his eyes and beginning to dose. A pleased smile crossed his face from ear to ear as one large hand came to rest on his head and did not move.

When his Mum came home, things would go back to their version of normal. Gohan would study more than he would train. Mum would cook for more people than actually lived in the house, and grandpa would come to visit once a week. While Gohan knew his Mum would never really understand why he liked his Piccolo so much, he hoped she would grow to tolerate him at least. There was nothing in the world as comforting to the little demi Saiya-jin as having his mentor meditating in the yard where Gohan could see him and feel safe and loved even when his daddy was away.

Maybe, someday, his mum could find comfort in having Piccolo around as well.

~/~ Finis ~/~


End file.
